Awesome and majestic God, your creative power, your glory and
holiness were experienced by your people of old as clouds and fire
guiding them to freedom. They believed that no one could see your
face and live. How blessed therefore are we, for you have revealed
your face to us in Jesus -
the human face of your love. You also equip us for our journey
through life and beyond, by breathing new and everlasting life into
our very beings,
through the gift of the Holy Spirit. These people of old believed
that it was your presence with them which made them a chosen and
special people. We praise and adore you, O God, for making our lives
so special, by choosing to share your life with us in and through
Jesus. May this time of worship and the service of our lives reveal
our thanksgiving and our wonder that you should so care for us. This
we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

Ed Lewis, our resident childrens' storyteller writes: "I have
been working on a "Halloween" flavored story. It has to do with
the fear factor that it is based on. I would take some of the
"scary" stories of the bible i.e. swallowed by a large fish, a
boy facing a giant, and being tossed into a lion's den, and then
relate how fear is vanquished by God. When we believe in God, we
have nothing to fear, for God is great."

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the
moment)

Returning
our Tithes and Offerings

A Taxing Question

They phrased
their question
guilefully,
savoured its cunning
gleefully,
and put it to him
artfully.

Most holy Friend, giver of faith and sharer of wondrous love,
please strengthen in us an undivided loyalty to you. Out of that
first loyalty, let us find the wisdom to fulfill all our small
obligations with generosity and patience, not counting the cost
but giving our best to the world for which Christ has paid the
ultimate price. In his name we pray. Amen!

Alexander Mack,
Jr., (1712-1803), one of the sons of the first minister of the
Brethren, held very strong opinions on the proper gospel order
for the ordinances and the running of the church, but he had an
even stronger love for Christian love and patience. The book
collector Abraham Harley Cassel preserved a number of letters
written by Sander Mack (as he was known).

In one of these,
written October 23, 1798 when he was in his eighties, Mack
addresses a biblical disagreement he had with one John Preisz
(1752-1829) the elder of the Indian Creek congregation. The two
were good friends for decades. Indeed, Mack had baptized Preisz
in 1773. They regarded each other warmly – & never hesitated to
disagree.

Mack addressed
Preisz as “Tenderly beloved brother, dear and well esteemed
fellow pilgrim,” and opened “With a heartfelt greeting and
salutation of the kiss in the spirit of sincere brotherly love…”

Regarding their
disagreement, Mack wrote, “Though I have read thy letter again
and again with diligence and in the fear of the Lord, I cannot
say that all those scripture passages referred to by you did
produce such an impression, as I understand they have produced
in you. But what shall I say? The flowers in the garden are
still and peaceful, though one clothed in blue, the other in
red, and the other…in white. They praise quietly their Creator,
and shew forth in entire concord the manifold wisdom of the
supreme Being.”

Though they were
in disagreement, Mack said, in a postscript, “I have told no
person in our neighborhood, that there was a dispute between me
and you, nor have I permitted any person to see your letter.
The Lord has called me into peace. May that same peace, which
passeth all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Amen, Amen.”

Perhaps one reason
they were able to keep their disagreements in perspective was
because they kept first things. In one tender and poignant
paragraph, Mack tells Preisz; “Last night the youngest child of
my youngest daughter has left the body of death, and is gone
from the land of mortality over the stream, which has no bridge,
into the land of the living. This child has performed its whole
journey in 13 months, and I have traveled now already 86 years
and 7 months, and have not yet passed over Jordon. But what our
God doeth, is done well.”

by Frank Ramirez, pastor of the Everett, PA
Church of the Brethren
posted by permission
The Everett church
graciously makes available these weekly vignettes from Brethren
history
to all who are interested during this
300th
anniversary year of our denomination.
Frank will be the guest preacher for our Homecoming on October
26, 2008
(this is our congregation's 100th anniversary year)

(para traducir a español, presione la bandera de España)

Interested in Sunday School?Below is a growing list of possible sites to visit.
As you discover others, please let
us know.

International Lesson:Adult
Bible Studies
from The United Methodist Publishing House(click "supplemental resources" and "current events supplement"
under both the "Student" and "Teacher" sections in the left hand column)